FLOWERS OF PLANTS. 53 



elaborate mechanism and splendor of some species, and 

 see the whole race of creation, with the exception of 

 man, utterly regardless of them. Butterflies and other 

 insects will bask on expanded flowers, and frequent 

 their disks, but it is in wantonness, or to feed on the 

 sweet liquors they contain. The carpenter bee, that 

 every summer cuts its little circular patches in such 

 quantities from my roses to line its nest in the old gar- 

 den door, selects the green leaves only, chiefly from the 

 China, Provence, and damask kinds,* passing over the 

 petals of their blossoms as useless. That splendid Jn- 

 sect the rose beetle (cetonia aurata), that beds and 

 bathes in sweetness, will partially eat the flowers of 

 some species of roses, and " lap the nectar they pro- 

 duce ; " and a few others nibble a little ; but the lilia- 

 ceous tribes, and other glorious flowers, as far as we 

 know, furnish to insects no supply, but expand, wither, 

 and die, unnoticed but by the eye of man alone. Flow- 

 ers that are grand, gay, cheerful or beautiful, predomi- 

 nate infinitely over those that are of a sombre hue or 

 gloomy aspect. Employment and occupation were as 

 much the design, as they are found to be essential to 

 the happiness of human life : we are not all constituted 

 to soar in the higher regions of scientific research ; our 

 dispositions are as various as our intellects. Horticul- 

 ture was the first occupation instituted for man, and he 

 cannot pursue a more innocent and harmless employ : 

 we were given " every herb, and every tree upon the 

 face of the earth." For food, or raiment, the immediate 

 necessities of man, a very few of them are applicable ; 

 but we can collect them for amusement, in admiration 

 of their beauty. Without this beauty, they would be 

 no object of research ; and man, who is exclusively sen- 

 sible of its existence, can alone find pleasure in viewing 

 it. The mind that is delighted with such admiration, 

 must be almost insensibly led to an attendant pleasure, 

 the contemplation, the perception of infinite wisdom 



* This bee does not exclusively make use of the leaves of rose for 

 its purposes, as I have known it in some seasons cut away the young 

 foliage of cytisus laburnum, even when growing in company with its 

 favorite rose. 



